La ciudad no es para mí (1966)

"World-wide (English title) (informal literal title): City Life Is Not for Me" (IMDB)

An elderly man who lives in a small town decides to go live with his son in the big city. His uncouth ways annoy his son's wife and amuses his son's daughter. His son is a workaholic, and this causes some problems in his marriage; the maid is also having troubles of her own. The newcomer tries to fix all those problems.

Entertaining, though extremely predictable, comedy with a terrific central performance. The film's ideology is mildly conservative, quite in line with Spain in the 1960s.

Rating: 44

Le cinéma de papa (1971)

 Claude's father is a furrier and wants his son to follow in his footsteps, but Claude wants to be an actor. Claude fails miserably at that, but he still wants to be in the movie business.

A poorly thought out movie, it seems. The finer parts of the movie are character-driven; too bad, instead of sticking to being merely a family chronicle, it tries to be "creative" and becomes an annoying mess.

Rating: 40

Historias de la radio (1955)

 "World-wide (English title) (literal title): Radio Stories" (IMDB)

(mild spoilers) The narrative intersperses some internal problems at a radio station with three episodes involving radio contests. Episode one is about a contest for the first person who gets to the station dressed as an eskimo; an inventor needs the money for his research; Episode two is about a man who is robbing his landlord's house; he answers the phone and the call is about a prize for simply presenting oneself at the radio station, the only problem being that the prize is meant for the owner of the house. Episode three is about a schoolteacher who is pressured to take part in a quiz in order to raise money for taking a child with a rare disease abroad for a surgery.

This episodic comedy has an ingenious well-rounded script and was competently filmed; it also has a couple of agreeable musical numbers. Episode (1) has some intense pathos mixed with mild grotesquerie; episode (2) explores some philosophical issues, and has possibly inspired an episode in the movie Radio Days; episode (3) wraps it up with a sentimental note.

Rating: 56

Don Giovanni (1991)

 Filmed opera. German production.

The music was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the libretto was written by Lorenzo da Ponte; the opera was originally named Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni (The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni), and premiered in 1787; it was based on a Spanish play traditionally attributed to Tirso de Molina named El burlador de Sevilla, y convidado de piedra or, in another version, Tan largo me lo fiais; the first version of it is estimated to have been written between 1612 and 1625.

After an unsuccessful rape attempt against Donna Anna, Don Giovanni kills his victim's father ('the Commendatore') in self-defense. Donna Anna's fiancé Don Ottavio promises her to avenge her father's death and her own rape attempt. Don Giovanni later meets Donna Elvira, a woman with whom he had a relationship and who hates him for leaving her. Next Don Giovanni runs into a marriage procession and feels attracted towards the bride Zerlina. He schemes to separate her from the procession and from the bridegroom. Once he is alone with her, she responds to his courtship. (The rest of the entourage was sent to Don Giovanni's castle where he promised them a big party.) Unfortunately for Don Giovanni's plans, however, Donna Elvira approaches and starts badmouthing Don Giovanni in front of Zerlina, causing her to change her mind. After a series of further adventures and misadventures, Don Giovanni meets his doom in the hands of... the statue of the Commendatore!

This is the second adaptation of this opera that I have seen, the previous one being that famous 1979 cinematic adaptation filmed in realistic sets. To be frank, I didn't remember a thing about it (I saw it more than 35 years ago!). As usual, I don't have many reliable opinions about the singing; for me they were all good. As for the music, I must have said it before: I am not a great enjoyer of Mozart, finding his music merely agreeable. The plot has above average entertainment value as operas go, but, really, I don't understand how this could have once become such a popular and prestigious form of art.

(I don't rate operas numerically.)

La niña del patio (1967)

In a small neighborhood in Spain live several interacting people: Carmen and her brother Antonio, a bird breeder; Pepe, a middle-aged bon-vivant; Lola, his young girlfriend; Coralito, a former star who teaches singing to Lola; Miguel, who wants to marry Carmen but is rejected by her; Zacarías, who also wants to marry Carmen; and another dweller who is a sort of master of ceremonies and organizer. Carmen's nephew leaves an infant girl for her to bring up; Carmen gets attached to the child. When their landlord says they must buy the place or leave, they decide to raise the money by turning the central patio into a stage and luring tourists into coming there to watch the little girl (now a little older) perform.

Musical comedy with some famous Spanish musical stars. It is not exactly remarkable, but has some agreeable moments of comedy or music.

Rating: 34